Self-Own Squad

I really wanted to like Suicide Squad from David Ayer, but it was not meant to be. This movie is chaotic, rushed, and a big hot mess. The DC Universe is supposed to be darker, gritty, and seemingly more well-suited to film. Pity.

For those that are unfamiliar, Suicide Squad is about villains in the DC Universe being used as a squad to do good for the US Government. The coordinator of this squad is Amanda Waller played by the wonderful Viola Davis. Her performance is one of two bright spots. The other being Jay Hernandez's fantastic Diablo. Some of the other character's introduction is effectively non-existent. As far as plot, the squad is put together, some bad stuff happens, and they get called in to duly to save the day. That's basically it.

By the way, um, Will Smith and Margot Robbie are in this. They play Deadshot and Harley Quinn respectively. They do a serviceable job, I guess. Oh, and Ben Affleck as Batman shows up.

This movie is a necessary component of the DC Extended Universe. So, you know, watch it for that.

This movie is a 4/10. Do not waste your time unless watching as part of the DC Extended Universe.

I ain't no boy

Hellboy is one of the first generation (I think that's right) of comic book movies that came out between the late 90s and early 2000s. I think it was really Blade that was the first big comic movie. Not counting Superman or Batman of course. In this case, Hellboy (the topic of this post) came out in 2004, and was Guillermo del Toro's first major production, unless you count Blade II. Where was I?

Nazis, demons, and random gadgets what more do you want in a popcorn flick? Plus, bonus! Niles Crane plays the underwater dude, movie name "Abe Sapien." Yes I know it is David Hyde Pierce. And let us not forget Selma Blair as, yep, a brooding character. Ron Perlman might have actually been born to be Hellboy. I mean without the makeup he kind of looks like Hellboy. Oh, by the way, Ron Perlman was in Blade II. True story.

This is a good action/sci-fi movie. The story is adequate. The acting is sufficient.

6/10, but a really strong 6. I don't know why I don't just adopt a rating system that incorporates half points...

How dare you attack the son of Odin!

Thor is the fourth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series of films. Kenneth Branagh's film starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and that titan of character actors, Stellan Skarsgård is a decently entertaining film. Also, isn't it weird that this is a Kenneth Branagh film?

For those unfamiliar with Norse mythology, Thor is one of the Norse gods and the son of Odin (played in typical intense fashion by Anthony Hopkins) the head honcho Norse god. In the movie Thor falls out of Odin's favor, and proceeds to engage in shenanigans down on Earth. On Earth Thor encounters Natalie Portman, and Stellan Skarsgård. You see Portman and Skarsgård's character are scientists, and they are ahh researching stuff, about like the sky or something? It doesn't really matter. This movie is not to be taken seriously, and it doesn't take itself seriously. Agent Colson (played with characteristic deadpan by Clark Gregg) from S.H.E.I.L.D. is a main character in the movie. Thor isn't the same on Earth as he is on Asgard. This movie is classic fish out of water. Blah, blah, blah.

If you catch this movie on a lazy day it is worth leaving it on. The acting is serviceable, the story mostly makes sense, and if you are a fan of the Marvel movies you should probably watch it. There isn't a lot to the movie, but it is fun.

6/10, but really more like 6.5. This is no Iron Man, but it is definitely consumable comic book fare.

Tin man gets a heart

Writing this review of Iron Man 3 was difficult in that I didn't want to reveal too many spoilers. Ultimately, this is the worst of the Iron Man movies. That doesn't mean that the movie is bad, but that the other two are pretty good. If I had to rank the movies from best to worst I would do so in the order that they came out.

Robert Downey Jr. is so familiar with the character at this point that it looks almost too easy for him to pull off Tony Stark. Somewhat surprising to myself in this one is how much screen time is devoted to Gwyneth Paltrow's character Pepper Potts. However, upon reflection, it does make sense, because the events center almost entirely around Pepper and Tony's relationship.

From the trailers I was expecting a very epic clash between a worthy mad genius foil for Tony Stark, ie The Mandarin. I will say this, Ben Kingsley can do no wrong. Spoiler alert, do not click this link about why comic book fans didn't like the Mandarin in this movie.

Apart from the aforementioned controversy this movie actually has the most tension of all the Iron Man movies. Iron Man might not make it through this time. The enemy is substantial, and the fight is larger than before. You've got all the necessary Iron Man whiz bang, and snarkiness. Don Cheadle is there to help out. And you know what, that is enough. Definitely a movie you wouldn't mind watching if it happened to be on, and you'd probably deem it a worthy waste of time.

7/10 Good cap to the series......so far, I mean they are going to make another, no way they don't

P.S. Guy Pearce is in this movie, and he is almost as scuzzy as he was in Lawless. All I've got to say about that.

Downey Jr. Continues his Jaunt as Snarky Billionaire

I watched Iron Man 2 recently. I would say it was as enjoyable as the first Iron Man. Much like my critique of the first Iron Man (which I saw about a month prior to viewing Iron Man 2) I bought into a lot of the characters. The movie was entertaining, and a good sequel to the first.

Often times sequels fail to live up to the standard that the first movie established. I'm thinking of things like: Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, The Matrix Reloaded, Die Hard 2, etc. It's not that these movies are bad per se, it's that they weren't confident enough in being their own movie, so they just did the first movie over. Now, it probably seems like the difference between the approach of those three movies to being a sequel and Iron Man 2's approach is not that different. I would agree with you in part, but disagree overall.

Iron Man 2 operates under a separate paradigm from the first movie. Here Tony Stark is known the world over as Iron Man, and things are pretty hunky-dory. But, of course things are not what they seem. There is trouble brewing in Russia. Iron Man has a dangerous secret. He wants to give up, but he finds redemption, and together with the help of his friends saves the world! Isn't that the same story arc as the first movie? Yeah, more or less, but so what? This movie was just as entertaining as I was hoping it would be.

Robert Downey, Jr. was his typical solid self. Mickey Rourke did a more than sufficient job as Ivan Vanko, ie the bad guy. Although, to be honest, it was a little hard to think of Rourke as some sort of tech genius. I'm not sure who should have been cast in the alternative. Maybe Peter Stormare? Peter Stormare can be pretty menacing. I mean if you told me that guy would be getting behind a computer, and then breaking someone's neck I would say "Sure, seems believable". Seriously, why didn't they call Peter Stormare? Other than that minor issue, I thought the returning actors did a good job, and the new additions (Don Cheadle, and Scarlett Johansson) were believable in their respective roles.

Oh yeah, Sam Rockwell is in this movie. Has there ever been a more outmatched villain than Rockwell in this movie? Yes. Vernon Wells as Bennett in Commando. Rockwell was very Rockwelly, and kind of annoying, which makes me question my assessment of other Rockwell movies.

All told, the movie was just as entertaining as the first one, and advanced the overall Iron Man story nicely. I look forward to the third installment coming out in less than a month.

7/10 would watch again, probably multiples

Downey Jr. Plays Snarky Playboy

It took me forever to see the first Iron Man movie, but I am happy I finally did. Jon Favreau's movie was thoroughly entertaining. First off, Robert Downey, Jr. is perfectly cast as Iron Man. There is something about his personality that matches the snarky, playboy billionaire that Tony Stark is supposed to be. The casting of Gwynenth Paltrow doesn't make all that much sense to me, however, I do think she was good in the role. I think it is mostly just odd to see her in such a supporting role, although I guess her last lead role was Sky Captain? Bounce? Seriously, what is Gwyneth Paltrow doing these days?

The film itself was quite enjoyable. The plot was very straightforward comic book fare, but at the same time wasn't overly cheesy. The delivery of one-liners was timely, and not awkward. There was a sufficient back story for me to believe Stark's transformation from nihilist to savior. One thing that I would have liked to see more of was information on the leader of the Ten Rings. Up until the point he showed up it seemed like Stark was kidnapped by a fairly unsophisticated bunch, but then BAM some dude with no accent shows up speaking English, and laying down the law. That was an interesting twist. Also, Jeff Bridges losing his mind was not terribly convincing. I mean, yes, he did get his hit exposed by Paltrow's character, but then he just decides to suit up? He doesn't try to flee? He just goes nuts? I think maybe if Jeff Bridges had whipped out a silenced pistol and killed the leader of Ten Rings I would be a little more okay with his suiting up at the end of the movie. Point being, he didn't do enough explicitly bad things (aside from ordering the hit) to make me buy the suit donning. I guess he did later say that he didn't have the stomach "for this kind of thing," but that seems very insufficient.

I think as far as comic book movies go, this has to be near the top for me. My first introduction to Iron Man was The Avengers. I loved the Avengers, and specifically Robert Downey, Jr. It is pretty easy to kind of do whatever you want technology wise when your protagonist is a billionaire weapons manufacturer. You can just have him invent stuff. I feel like the movie ended perfectly to set up the next in the series. In this movie SHIELD's involvement is somewhat confusing, but it doesn't take away from the movie. You probably just think that there is no reason for them being there. That is assuming you aren't familiar with the comic book universe, or The Avengers.

I wonder if I would like this as much if someone else had played Iron Man. I also wonder how much of the character is just just Downey, Jr. himself, and not acting. Come to think of it, he is like this in pretty much every movie. That's not a knock on Downey, Jr., but more of an observation.

All around, I would totally watch this again. I would recommend it to others, but I think a great many people I know have already seen it.

8/10, will watch again, probably buy too, seriously fun.